


The Seven Birds, Plus One

by ManiManTheWriter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Messing with how bonds work, Stolen Century, The IPRE adopts Angus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2020-07-10 01:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManiManTheWriter/pseuds/ManiManTheWriter
Summary: Bonds are a crazy thing. Strong bonds can even be used as energy. So why couldn't they help the IPRE adopt and keep a kid?





	1. Finding Angus

The crew of the Starblaster was used to odd shit happening to them. What they didn’t expect was to be met with a toddler when they landed the ship on this new planet. This was their seventy-third cycle and sure there had been kids out and about before, but this was just a kid in the middle of nowhere. Taako is the first off the ship, going over and looking around.

“Hey kid, what are you doing out here all alone? If you are alone that is.”

“Um… Not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Now that was new, This kid couldn’t be older than three and he could talk pretty well.

“Well, if we introduce ourselves we won’t be strangers then. How’s that sound?”

The kid looks at Taako, then at the giant ship behind him.

“Can I go up there after?”

“Sure can kid. I’ll take you up myself.”

“I’m Angus.”

“My names Taako.”

Taako offers his hand to Angus and leads him up the gangplank. This kid was all alone and he knew how hard that could be. He’d try to find his parents soon.

“Hey Koko, what did you find?”

“Found a kid!”

“You found what?!”

Lup hurries over to see this kid. Angus jumps and quickly hides behind Taako, holding onto his leg.

“Hey, it’s alright pumpkin. This here is my little sister Lup.”

“I’m older and you know it Taako.”

Angus peeks out and looks at Lup, then quickly up at Taako. He looks between them for a while and then slowly steps out next to Taako.

“You two look the same.”

Taako smiles and squats down to be on Angus’s level. “Well we’re twins kid. Born at the same time and all that jazz.”

“Well not exactly at the same time but pretty close,” Lup adds.

“Oh… That’s cool! Is it just you up here?”

“Nah, there’s some more people. Come on Ango, I’ll introduce you.”

“My names Angus.”

Taako shrugs and stands up, leading Angus to the common room. Lup goes with them, walking ahead of them so she could watch everyone’s reaction. When Taako gets there he puts a hand on Angus’s head.

“So I found a kid. I’m calling dibs so don’t any of you chucklefucks try and take him from me. And no, we can’t keep him. I’m looking at you Magnus.”

“Taako, watch your language,” Davenport adds in before anyone can say before anyone can say anything else.

“Oh, he's probably heard that before. Anyway, Angus this is the rest of the crew. The gnome is Captain Davenport, the big human who looks like he wants to hug you is Magnus, the human with glasses is Barry, the human with the journal is Lucretia, and the dwarf is Merle.”

Angus nods and looks at each person as they’re introduced. Then he steps up and waves. “Hi, I’m Angus.”

Taako ruffles Angus’s hair but quickly takes his hand away when the boy flinches. Quickly he’s kneeling down and looking Angus over.

“Please don’t do that.”

“Noted. You alright pumpkin?”

“Um… Yes.”

“Are you lying to me?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

“You’re fine. So what’s wrong?”

Angus looks at the others and looks down, shaking his head a bit. Taako gets up and gently leads Angus out, going to his room and letting him sit on the bed. He waits patiently but he’s quickly in front of Angus and trying to figure out what to do when he starts crying.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”

“Hey, don’t you worry about that bubbelah. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“My dad… He said we were gonna camp. Then he left when I was sleeping. I… I wanna go home!”

“Oh… Come here kid.” Taako pulls Angus close and comforts him. Normally he wouldn’t do this but he knew what it felt like to be abandoned by someone who didn’t want him. “Do you remember the name of the town you live in?”

Angus nods and holds onto Taako tightly. He cries and tries to calm down so he can say the name but everytime he gets under control he starts to cry again.

“Take your time kid, I’ll get you back as soon as you’re ready.”

“I… I live in Leaston.”

“Alright, we’ll find it and get you back there. You wanna take a nap in my bed while we find the place?”

Angus nods quickly. Taako puts him in the bed and covers him up. Once Angus is asleep he quickly goes to talk to the crew. That kid didn’t deserve what they were going to have to do. Taking him back was the worst choice but they couldn’t just not take him back there.

“Captain, I need to talk to you.”

“Alright… Where would you like to take this?”

“Off the ship preferably.”

“Well lead the way.”

Taako nods and quickly leaves the ship. Once he’s on the ground he paces around until Davenport catches up to him.

“The kid’s dad abandoned him out here.”

“Taako, you can’t-”

“He told me his dad was taking him camping and then left when he was sleeping. I’ve heard that one before! Several times actually!”

“Oh… Well, what would you like to do?”

“I don’t have much choice. He wants to go home.”

“Well I say we do it, but we stick close. That way he knows we’re around if he needs us.”

“Yeah, I like that idea. He said he lives in a town called Leaston.”

“I’ll send Barry and Magnus to find it.”

Taako nods and looks at the ship.

“Let’s not tell the others. You know Magnus is gonna try and keep him.”

“Good idea. No need to go through that again.”

They both head back onto the ship and Taako goes to check on Angus. He was already attached to this kid and he knew it would hurt at the end of the cycle. He tried not to get attached anymore when it came to the new planes. This kid though, he was different. Angus was too much like him and Lup and he couldn’t help it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever because I wanted to add just a bit more but the end seemed like a good place to stop and then start a new chapter, so here it is.

Taako decides to get a meal in the kid before they had to take him back. So he heads to the kitchen and starts cooking something that would have Angus amazed and hopefully let him forget about what had happened for a little while. If he could do that and fill the kid’s belly then it was worth it to cut into their supplies a little. If there were towns then they could get enough to cover the gap in supplies they had.

“Hey Lup, get in here. I need an extra set of hands.”

“Sure, what’s the occasion?”

“I’m making something for the kid. He seemed pretty hungry.”

“Then where is he?”

“My bed, he’s worn out.”

“Taako… What’s going on?”

“His dad abandoned him out here. Davenport says we have to take him back so I wanna get a good meal in him before then. He should have that at least.”

“We have to take him back? Why the hell do we have to do that?”

“You know why, we can’t exactly bring him with us.”

“Still, I’m sure there are other places he could go.”

Taako shakes his head and keeps working on the food. He knew Lup would fight to protect the kid just as much as Magnus would, but she also knew they couldn’t bring him along and didn’t want to risk something bad happening to him if they tried. None of them knew what exactly happened to those they tried to bring with them. They were just gone once they got out of the planar system. After a few minutes he leans on Lup and she leans on him.

“If we were home and found this kid I’d take him to an orphanage or something, you know that, right?”

“I know Ko, but this still sucks for him. If we don’t find the Light it’ll suck even more for him.”

“Yeah, so once we drop him off we’re gonna start looking. He lives in a town nearby so we can ask people there if they’ve seen it.”

“I still don’t feel right dropping him off with his dad.”

“We don’t have a choice. It’s better than him being in an orphanage. He’s already old enough to walk and talk. You know after that it’s slim chances of getting adopted.”

“We don’t know if that’s true here.”

“Lup, stop.”

“No!” Lup moves away from the counter, pacing around. Taako shakes his head and keeps working on the food. It would take a minute for her to calm down. He was used to this argument but it didn’t mean he liked it.

“This is just gonna scare him if he comes out here and you’re all pissed off. So cool it.”

“How are you so calm about this?”

“If you really think I’m calm then you’re more pissed off than I thought. Go light a tree on fire or something.” Lup makes an angry sound and leaves, heading down to the ground. Taako finishes up and grabs a couple plates. “You can come on out Ango.”

Angus makes his way into the kitchen and over to Taako, standing a little bit away. “How did you know?”

“Elf ears. Lup would have heard you if she wasn’t busy being all mad.”

“Is… Is she mad at me?”

“At you? No bubbelah, she’s not mad at you. Lup just… She gets angry when things aren’t fair, which has happened to us a lot.”

“Oh… Is she gonna burn down a tree?”

“She might, but if the captain is out there he won’t let her do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because she might start a forest fire, then that wouldn’t be good for anyone. We try not to mess with stuff too much when we go somewhere new.” Taako sets out a couple platefuls of food on the table and helps Angus into a chair.

“Are… Are you sure I can have this?”

“Yeah, eat up.”

Angus hesitantly starts eating. Taako sits in his usual spot and starts eating too. He keeps an eye on Angus, gently reaching over to stop him when he starts scarfing down the food. “Shit, I know it’s good but you’re gonna choke if you eat that fast. You don’t have to swallow it whole.”

“Sorry.” He slows down, his cheeks turning red.

“Hey, no need for that. I get it. Oh, and if you’re still hungry after then you can have some more. If we end up eating it all then I’ll make something else for the others.”

“But… They should have some too.”

“Yeah, but they’re all too busy so it’s their loss.” He chuckles and keeps eating. That actually gets a giggle out of Angus, who keeps eating. That was good at least, Angus could still laugh even after what had happened so he wasn’t hopeless yet.

**Author's Note:**

> If you see this work on other apps, including "Fanfic Pocket Archive Library" please report it and read it here instead. I did not consent to having my work uploaded elsewhere.


End file.
